Australia is a great place to learn to surf, so it’s also a great place to be hired as a surf instructor. There was a big shortage of instructors last summer and schools will be hiring big time in early spring (September and October)
There’s surf schools in beautiful tourism areas such as the Sunshine Coast, Gold Coast, Byron Bay to Merimbula, and the Surf Coast in Victoria.
The further south you go, the shorter the surf season for lessons. Some Victorian and Tasmania surf schools close for winter while they typically stay open year round in Queensland.
A typical day in the life of a surf instructor will involve two or three two hour lessons. These could be for school kids or adults followed by clean ups and shop work. Many surf schools also do other adventure activities like kayaking, mountain biking, and stand up paddle boarding so the work has good variety.
Outdoor adventure instructors will need to do a water safety course and be accredited by state surfing bodies. These qualifications typically take 3-4 days to attain and instructors will also need working with children police checks.
Internationally recognised ocean rescue course are OK, but if you have a pool lifeguard licence, you’ll need to upgrade to open ocean safety standards.
Surf instructors also need to be competent surfers and be able to understand the ocean to prevent dangerous situations and respond to emergencies if required.
Pay is typically in the $25-35ph range. Please note, unlike surf camps in Europe, accommodation is offsite and surf schools rarely provide housing as part of a contract. Finding housing near your work, and picking up casual work shifts at cafes and bars if you need to supplement your wage, is reasonably easy.
Getting surfer trimming on green waves is exciting for student and teacher.
The busy season is from October through to Easter.
And if you do come out to Australia to do a season as an instructor, spending a month or two surfing in Indonesia is a sensible thing to do when you’re in the general area.
If you are interested in a surf instructor job, create a free profile and tag Australia as a preferred work destination and surf instructor as a preferred job.
Please also check out a profile of The Surf Coast. We need employees so much this summer, and getting a working holiday visa is so easy.
If you have found this blog post or podcast useful please share it, consider creating an employee profile, and joining our outdoor adventure community.